Direct contact desuperheater



May 19, 1931. s. M. JORGENSEN DIRECT CONTACT DESUPERHEATER Filed June 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 6VE/tl7 M. JORGE/V6157! film MW ATTORNEYS Q May 19, 1931. s. M. JORGENSEN DIRECT CONTACT DESUPERHEATER Filed June 18. 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTOR 5mm M. uofreE/vsw r4% a ATTORNEYJ,

Patented May 19, 1931 UNITED STATES PVATENT- OFFICE:-

- svnm) JORGENSEN, or ELIZABETH, new master, AssIGNoR ".110 THE SUPERHEATER I COMPANY, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or DELAWARE DIRECT CONTACT DESUPERHEATER Application filed June 18,

In modern engineering practice it is the usual custom in power plants to employ high pressure and high superheated steam. boilers and engines. In some plants however it is the practice after the plant has been changed over from the old time boilers to the more modern ones to retain one or more of the-lower pressure engines which are used occasionally for peak loads or in other emergencies. In some cases steam from the main boilers is also used for process work and the temperature of the steam for such work must frequently be considerably less than the temperature of the highly superheated steam furnished by the main boiler of the plant. In such cases it has become the practice to use 'desuperheaters in which the temperature of the highly superheated steam is reduced to the desired degree by cooling such steam with water. Such desuperheaters are of two types, namely, direct contact and indirect contact.

The present invention relates todirect contact desuperheaters and has for its principal object to provide a new and improved method of desuperheating, to improve upon the construction of such apparatus and to increase the efliciency thereof. As heretofore constructed it has been the usual practice with its particular type of desuperheaters to bring about the reduction of the steam temperature by injecting water into a body of steam, whose temperature is to be reduced, in the form of a spray from a suitably constructed nozzle. This method of procedure is subject to the objection that it is extremely difficult to maintain, at all times, in its most effective form, the spray of water under the varying conditions encountered. It is a characteristic of a spray nozzle for water that such nozzle will operate most efficiently only within certain limits of pressure or quantity of the water which passes through it. Increase or decrease of the water pressure or quantity beyond such limits will entirely change the character of the resulting spray. The water pressure and quantity will increase or decrease with any variation of the quantity or the pressure and the temperature of thebody of steam into which the water is injected.

1928. SerialNo. 286,366.

ly to obtain the desired output of the olesuperheated steam. r

In view of the above; a further object'of the present inventionis therefore to provide 7 a new and improved construction for a direct contact desuperheater by means of which.

the objections above noted will be overcome. The above and other objects of the present invention will appear more fully from the following more detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof wherein Fig. 1 is a central vertical section taken onthe line 11 of Fig. 2 through a desuperheater constructed in accordance with the principles of my invention; Fig. 2 is a central, horizontal section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 Fig. 4 is a central vertical section through a modified construction in which the desuperheater drum has its longitudinal axis located in a vertical plane; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 1 of a modification in which only. a single inlet pipe isrprovided' for the superheated steam and Fig. 7 is a section on the line 77 of Fig. 6. I

As shown in the-drawings the desuperheatQ er comprisesa drum 10 preferably of cylindrical shape, the ends of which are closed of Fig. 2;-

by the heads 11 and .12. Extending along the longitudinal center line of the drum and preferably terminating short of the ends thereof, is a vertical baffle 13, shown most clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Located at each side of said bafile is a plurality. of

steam inlet pipes 14:. Any desired number of such pipes may be employed. For the purpose of the present disclosure I have shown two setsof such pipes, each set consisting of a pair, each pair being located on opposite sides of the'baflle and onopposite sides of the transverse center of the drum. These pipes are closed on their lower ends and at their upper ends project through the Y as wall of the drum and are provided with flanged coupling members which serve to connect the pipes to steam lines through which superheated steam from the boilers is lead to the desuperheater. Each pipe is provided with a. plurality of laterally projecting nozzles 15, saidnozzles being .directed on each pair of pipes towards the nearest end of the longitudinal baflle as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

Water is introduced into the drum 10 through the flanged inlet 16,.the water being I supplied in suiiicient quantity to partially fill the drum and maintain the water level therein substantially to the height indicated in Fig.1 of the drawings by the line IV. IVith the water-at such- ;level it will be seen that some of the nozzles 15 are=submerged while others of suchnozzles are located above the water level. V j

- At any suitable point along? the top of the drum and preferably approximately at the transverse center line thereof, asteain outlet 17 is provided through which the steam of lower temperature is led from the drum.-- In order to minimize the possibility of the liqu-id contents of the drum from being carried over with the steam through the outlet 17, a steam trap l8 is secured to the inner wall of the drum adj ac'ent'to the outlet 17, said steam trap is closed on its lower-side bythe wall 19 and its vertical wall is provided with .ajpair of openings 20; onelocated on each sideof the longitudinal .b'aftlez13. I a The manner in which the nozzles 15 are placed sothat such nozzlesfacein opposite directions will insure a circulation of the water in 'the'direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 2.- The openings 2010f the steam trap are preferably located so that such. openings face opposite to the direction of the flow of the water immediately below such openin s.

With a device constructed as above escribed so that the majorlpart'of the superheated steam is injecteddirectly into 'a body of water and preferably along horizontal lines, the flow of the steam through the water is through a comparatively longpath. and as a'result quite an etticientheat transfertakes place. r evaporation temperature it is evaporated As thew-titer is atthe boiling/oi quite rapidlyas the superhea-t of thest'eam is reduced Regulation of the-temperature of th'e outgoing steam can be very quickly-and readily accomplished by merely varying the water level in'the drum. When it is desired to increase the temperature-of the outgoing steam, the water level is lowered, whereas when it is desired to decrease the temperature, the water level is raised. In the usual opera' tion of the deviceit'will ordinarily be found desirable tokeep thetemperature of the outgoing steam approximately constant. The present apparatus enables a constant ternp'erature of the outgoing steam to be very. readily obtained automatically by the use of a thermostatic control located in the outlet pipe and governing the rate of admission of water through the flanged inlet 16. The rate of conversion of the water into steam with the apparatus herein disclosed is fairly rapid so that variations in the rate of flow of the water to the desuperheater will quite quickly produce similar variations of the water level anda changein the-proportionate amount 0 steam introduced above and below the water level, and consequently a relatively rapid change in the rate of conversion of the water to steam.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the superheater drum has its longitudinal axis in a vertical plane the drum 10 is preferably cylindrical and has its lower end closed by a flanged head 11. A portion 12 of the upper part of the drum is detachably' connected to the main body of the drum, the meeting edges of the drum sections being provided with flanges 20, bolted together byv the bolts 21.

Projecting downwardly through a central aperture of the upper drum section 12 is a flanged inlet pipe 14 into which the superheated steam is introduced. Projecting .lat

erally from the side of said pipe 1 1 and arranged at spaced intervals both about the periphery of said pipe and'at different vertical heights thereof, is a plurality of nozzles 15 the" extremities of said nozzles being bent to extend substantially tangentially to the pipes periphery. A flanged outlet 17 forthe' desuperheated steam is provided adjacent to the top of the drum and extends laterally from the side wall thereof. A baffle 22 is interposed between the outlet 17 a and the nozzles 15 to prevent steam from being projected directly through said outlet.

I In the form shown in Figs.'6 and 7 only a single inlet pipe 14 isprovided, and in order to permit a .sufficient number of nozzles 15 toxbe provided, the pipe 14 extends at an inclination as clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings. The pipe '14, as shown in Fig.,7,

preferably extends .along the longitudinal centerof the drunr and has securedto it the upwardly and downwardly projecting webs or vings 25, 26 respectively; The nozzles 15?, as shown in Fig. 7, are arranged along each sideof the .pipe 14 and the ends of said nozzles are bent to extend inopposite directions on each side of the pipe in order tojsecure a circulation of the water'similar tothat obtained'with the form of construction shown in Figs-1 to, 3-of.the drawing. The construction of the outlet 17 and steam trap 18 shownin Figs. 6 and 7 is substantially the same as that illustratedin Figs. 1 to 3.

It will be noted that in all forms of the invention some ofthe nozzles 15 are located below the water level while others of said-nozzles are above the water level.

Iclaim:

1 The method of desuperheating superheated stem, which consists in continuously injecting a' major portion of the superheated steam in a plurality of jets into a. body of water at different distances below the surface level thereof while simultaneously passing, in a plurality of jets, a minorportion of such steam in a restricted zone above said surface, to cause it to blend with the desuperheated steam rising from said body of liquid.

2. The method of desuperheating superheated steam, which consists in continuously injecting a major portion of the superheated steam in a plurality of jets into a body of water at different distances below the surface level thereof while simultaneously passing, in a plurality of jets, a minor portion of such steam in a restricted zone above said surface, to cause it to blend with the desuperheated steam rising from said body of liquid and varying the proportion of said minor portion to said major portion in accordance with varying temperature conditions of the superheated steam in order to secure a delivery of the desuperheated steam. of approximately uniform temperature.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a container adapted to contain a body of water, and a plurality of nozzles in said container connected with a source of'superheated steam, said nozzles being located in different parts of said container and having their jet orifices directed substantially in parallelism with the adjacent side wall of the container and the surface of said Water, and pointing in different directions according to their location in order to cause a continuous circulation of said water about said container.

4. In an apparatus of the character described, a container adapted to contain a body of water, a bafiie extending alongthe longitudinal center line of said container and a plurality of nozzles, connected with a source of superheated steam, arranged in groups on each side of said baffle with the jet orifices of said nozzles pointin in opposite directions on opposite sides 0% said baffle to cause the steam issuing therefrom to effect a. circulation of the Water within said container around said baflie and container.

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a container adapted to contain a body of water, a battle extending along the longitudinal center line of said container and a plurality of nozzles, connected with a source of superheated steam, arranged in groups on each side of said baffle with the jet orifices of said nozzles pointing in opposite directions on opposite sides of said baflie to cause the steam issuing therefrom to effect a circulation of the water within said container around said bafile and container, certain of said nozzles of each group thereof being arranged below the surfacelevel of the water and ths 'remainder being above said level. 6; In a desuperheater, a container adapted to containa body of iwater, and a plurality of nozzles connected with a source of superheated steam, arranged-in spaced relationship and distributed equallyon opposite sides of the longitudinalj.central planeof said container, said nozzles ha-vingtheir jet orifices located below the surface level of the water and so directed withrespect to said plane and to the side wall of the container nearest to each respective nozzle. that a continuous circulation of said water within said container is effectedv by the steam issuing from said orifices. o Y r 7. A. desuperheater as set forth. in claim 6 in which-in addition to the nozzles on each side of the center plane and located below the surface of the water, a plurality of-nozzles areprovide'd with their jet orifices 10.: cated-above-said surface. I v8. A desuperheater comprising a closed container, means ffor continuously. supplying water to said. container for maintaining a body of water therein, a baffle extending along a longitudinalcentral plane of said container and terminating short of the ends thereof, a plurality of headersprojecting into'said container upon opposite sides of said baffle and a plurality-of spaced nozzles projecting laterally from said headers, said nozzles be ing arranged to cause a circulation of the body of water within said container.

9. 'A desuperheater as set forth in claim' 8 in which certain of said nozzles are located below the surface level of said water and the remainder thereof are located above said level.

10. A desuperheater comprising a container adapted to contain a body of water, a heaolsuperheated steam projecting into said container, saidheader having its longitudinal axis inclined to the surface of said water and a plurality of nozzles projecting laterally from opposite sides of said header, certain of said nozzles being located below said surface for causing the superheated steam to be injected directly" into said water and others of said nozzles being located above said surface for causing a portion ofthe superheated steam to be passed above said surface.

11. A desuperheater comprising a container adapted to contain a body of water, a header adapted to be connected to a source of superheated steam projecting into said container, said header having its longitudinal axis inclined to the surface of said Water and a plurality of nozzles projecting latera lly from opposite sides of saidheader, and a baffle extending substantially along a longitudinal central plane of said container.

12. In a desuperheater, a closed container, means for supplying water to said containerand maintaininga body thereof within said container, a header projecting into said container with its axis lying along substantially I the longitudinal center line of the container and a plurality of nozzles projecting laterally from said header and spaced equally both longitudinally along, andtransversely about, said header, certain of said nozzles lying below the surface of the water and the remainder of said nozzles being located above said level. f

13. In adesuperheater, a closed container, means for supplying Water .to said container and, maintaining a ody thereof within said container, a header projecting into said container with its axis lying along substantiallythe longitudinal centerline of the container and a plurality of nozzles projecting laterally from said header and vspaced equally both longitudinally along, and transversely about, said header, certain of said nozzles lying below the surface of the water and the remainder of said nozzles being'located above said level, said nozzles having their jet orifices directed substantially tangentially to the side walls of the header and of said container whereby the Water will be caused to circulate by the steam issuing from said nozzles around said header and container. T In testimony whereof I have hereunto se my hand.

"SVEND M. .J ORGEN SEN. 

